index
noun
[ ˈɪndɛks ]
• (in a book or set of books) an alphabetical list of names, subjects, etc. with reference to the pages on which they are mentioned.
• "clear cross references supplemented by a thorough index"
• a sign or measure of something.
• "exam results may serve as an index of the teacher's effectiveness"
Similar:
guide,
clue,
hint,
indication,
indicator,
lead,
sign,
signal,
mark,
token,
evidence,
symptom,
implication,
intimation,
suggestion,
• an exponent or other superscript or subscript number appended to a quantity.
• a pointer on an instrument, showing a quantity, a position on a scale, etc.
index
verb
• record (names, subjects, etc.) in an index.
• "the list indexes theses under regional headings"
• link the value of (prices, wages, or other payments) automatically to the value of a price index.
• "the Supreme Soviet passed legislation indexing wages to prices"
• (of a machine or part of one) move from one predetermined position to another in order to carry out a sequence of operations.
• "the pins are retracted and indexed to occupy an adjacent slotted position"
Origin:
late Middle English: from Latin index, indic- ‘forefinger, informer, sign’, from in- ‘towards’ + a second element related to dicere ‘say’ or dicare ‘make known’; compare with indicate. The original sense ‘index finger’ (with which one points), came to mean ‘pointer’ (late 16th century), and figuratively something that serves to point to a fact or conclusion; hence a list of topics in a book (‘pointing’ to their location).
